BERKELEY — At least one man was in city jail after University of California officers arrested him during a protest march by union workers near campus Thursday.

A Twitter account for AFSCME 3299, which says it represents more than 24,000 employees, said workers had planned informational pickets at most of UC’s 10 campuses Thursday in part to commemorate the Feb. 1, 1968 deaths of two Memphis sanitation workers. Workers were scheduled to meet at Sproul Plaza from noon to 1:30 p.m. on the Berkeley campus.

According to a campus spokeswoman’s statement Thursday evening, about 100 protesters were blocking Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft Way when a UC Berkeley employee ran toward a vehicle driving through the intersection and threw his sign at it.

When the driver got out, the employee advanced on him but was restrained by others, and the driver flagged down police to complain of damage to his vehicle.

After a UC officer tried to detain the man, who did not cooperate and ignored commands, other officers moved on him. Protesters’ response to the man’s detention led officers to take him to headquarters, where Berkeley firefighters treated him for a forehead cut before he was taken to a hospital for additional care.

“As is the case with all incidents involving the use of force on the part of police officers, UCPD command staff will carefully review this incident and urges anyone with information regarding the incident to come forward,” the statement read in part.

“UCPD and the campus administration always see the use of force as unfortunate and it is used only when necessary to protect the community and the officers involved in carrying out their duties.”

“At a peaceful protest honoring the generations long struggle of black workers who risked everything to win dignity and fair treatment on the job, the University of California decided to engage in police tactics more befitting of the Jim Crow South. This is why we fight.”

The worker was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor vandalism and willful obstruction of an officer. He was cited and released, and faces a March 1 arraignment at Oakland’s Wiley Manuel Courthouse, according to county records.

George Kelly is a breaking news reporter for the Bay Area News Group. He has worked as an online coordinator and, before that, a copy editor and page designer for Bay Area-based newspapers and magazines. Off work, he enjoys playing in bands, busking and karaoke. His first newspaper job was as a Washington Post paperboy.

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